In many communications applications, it is desirable to send as much information as possible and as fast as possible. That is, where a network may initially be deployed with, e.g., two nodes, or some other small number of nodes, it may be desirable to increase the capacity of that network. Accordingly, additional nodes may be deployed within the network. As more nodes are deployed, more channels may be added in order to maintain the data throughput of the additional (and original/existing) nodes. Furthermore, data speeds and throughput demands may increase over time, thus necessitating the addition of even more channels.
Conventional systems and methods relying on multiple channels are limited, though, by the need for a frequency gap that is inserted between neighboring channels as a transition band and to allow for filtering. Such frequency gaps are required in order to reduce interference between such neighboring channels. However, the use of these frequency gaps reduces spectral efficiency, as the frequency gap cannot be utilized for the actual transmission of signals.
Additionally, network capacity expansion, as accomplished by conventional methods, often requires the replacement of legacy nodes that have been designed to operate in a single channel mode. That is, legacy nodes that are not capable of multi-channel operation must be replaced with nodes that have the capability of transmitting and receiving over two or more channels.